Aidan

Can someone explain in relativity simple terms to u defat and what is meant when clipping is referred to in images? I read being mentioned quite frequently, but even after being in the AP game for a couple of years, I don’t fully understand what it refers to! Rgds Aidan

Its mainly me being a bit OCD i'm afraid. I can rotate my focuser unit if required for framing. And, the shims would no doubt be useful elsewhere at some point! I'm suprised that they are not available as a pack of 10 or so from ZWO. Might just drop them a line and see if they can sell me some!

I have just upgraded my 5 position ZWO filter wheel to an 8 position one. The 5 positoin one with a couple of the very thin spacers between the camera and the filter wheel had them nicely lined up. WIth the 8 position, no matter what combination of ultra thin spacers and delrin spacers i try, i am about off either to the left or the right by about 20 degrees. Does anyone know where you can buy these ultra thin washer like spacers? I think they are in the region of .25mm and .50mm ? Cheers Aidan

I finally got around to re-working my large AP rig. The aim to allow me to travel to dark sites with the least amount of fuss. The addition of the onboard mini PC has now realised my aim. The only cable which runs to the mount is a 12v power cable. The power and USB connections are controlled via a Pegasus Astro UPB. Autofocus is via the Focus Boss II which connects to the WIFI network. The mini pc (Intel Gemini Lake CPU, 6GB RAM, 128GB SSD with over 100GB free for image capture storage. It has SGP, PHD2, Cartes-du-Ceil, Polemaster and runs on Windows 10 Pro - which allows for easy remote access. The mini pc is 12v and the whole rig runs nicely off a 74ah battery which is more than enough for a nights imaging. Alot of other cabling has now been shortened so thre is no undue cabling wrapped around the socpe now! The mini-pc has had a few good test runs so far and works like a charm.

Thanks. I will certainly frequent myself before going at night. I’d probably aim to get there before dusk and probably not leave until first light unless the weather changes. Whilst on the subject, are there any groups who go out there together? I’m sure there must be? Nothing formally organised, but like minded AP’ers.

Thanks. My biggest concern is other activities at the more popular spots and headlights etc being a factor which you have pointed out. I wasn’t actually aware that Herefordshire was one of the darkest counties. I have found another place which is a bit closer for me, Hay Bluff. It’s easily accessible, but I’ve no idea how good it might be, nor how busy it might be with traffic etc.

Hi all, Does anyone have any recommendations for good sites for AP around Brecon or the Elan Valley.... or anywhere within about an hour from Hereford? Finally happy that I can run my rig reliably from a leisure battery and also power my laptop so want to go to a dark site . Rgds Aidan

You are correct. However, it’s not practical. The focuser tube only has about 25cm of travel from fully in to fully out. The problem is, at my focus point, it’s pretty much impossible to get a hex key between the gap to the grub screws. I would have to wind the focuser out to get enough space. The only option I would have would be to remove the auto focus motor and wind the focuser out manually each time I needed to make an adjustment then re- focus. If that’s what is needed to get rid of the elongated stars, I guess I need to look into doing it that way

As always, a very detailed diagnosis. the focuser does have tilt correction grub screws, but they are so difficult to manipulate, it makes them very impractical. The image train is ZWO 1600mm Pro, zwo 5 position fw, zwo OAG and a 16.5mm spacer which attaches to the scope. I’ve just been out and done a full inspection of the scope & image train. Made sure there is no slop and everything is tight. I’ll give it a go later on and see what happens. As said, I can nearly always crop out the bottom of the frame and still end up with a good image composition. I guess reading how it should be vs how it actually is is not always true!

I’ve done some good experimentation with ccdi, yes it gives better results with more frames, but in my experience, it only changes a 1 or 2 % over a single image. So, a single image run through ccdi should give a good starting point. On a quad or any scope for that matter with a flattener, something in my mind is clearly Isnt right when presented with a 3D plot like this! Challenge is it find out how to resolve. I don’t have the ability to change spacing !

As far as i am aware, spacing is irrelevant with a quad. Being in focus should provide the flat filed. Its one of the reasons i bought the quad so as no messing with spacing etc. which, consequently i can achieve no problem at all with my image train. The spacing should only really come into play to keep the focus draw tube as far into the scope as possible to allow you to still focus but mainly to reduce any chance of sag.

Could anyone assist in trying to solve this please? ive got a 70mm quad, which produces some nice images. However, I’m seeing slight elongation of stars along the bottom of the image, mainly towards the corners. The other 3/4 of the image seems fine. Another thing I am seeing is a constant 20% curvature when I run an image through ccd inspector. Although I use a visual approach - Mk1 eyeball and ccd inspector as a confirmation, I’m surprised to see a consistent curve of this much considering it’s a quad scope.

I’m wondering if it’s designed to work out of the box with the standard bolt that comes with the mount and not with others without modifications. The bolt I have is the one with the black lever and push button to release it so you can change the handle position. Ill keep an eye on mine, burn it seemed to work ok last night.

If I’m honest, to start with I just left it pushing against the barrel, reassembled and tested it. Seemed to work all Ok, so left it at that! I’ll see how it goes and if need be drill it out a bit so it’s a better fit.

Just fitted mine. I have a replacement bolt on my mount which does not have as much of a ball head, so getting it to sit in the hole on the sliding block was a bit of a job. But, all installed and the movement is so much better. Proof will be in the pudding... but i dont anticipate any problems... going by todays weather,thats not going to be anytime soon!

Sure will. This prompted me buying one

Just bought the rail kit myself. The lug on my mount got chewed up causing it to lose PA. with a bit of luck it will be here tomorrow. Bit pricey, but looks like a good strong g reliable solution.

That’s pretty much the exact same way I attach my guidescope. Very solid. You’ll not have too many problems with this. I was going to suggest you consider the QHY 5LII mono... but see you’ve already gone for it :-)

Load up your Star Adventurer with the imaging camera, its lens etc.. Then do a Polemaster Alignment. Doing it this way will minimise any addtional movement you have to do to the imaging camera.

I have only just got myt Star Adventurer, but have been using Polemaster on my larger mount for a while now. I've managed to do one PA so far on my SA setup due to weather at the moment, next clear night will be my first attempt at actual imaging. Alot will depend on your tripod, but i would suggest that you get your camera lined up with your target as much as you can before doing a Polar Alignment with the PM. In my case i am using a Manfrotto 55 aluminium tripod and although quite stable, if i can avoid moving too much anything on the mount after a PM then it can only help. As long as you are careful, you should be able to move the camera around to a new target without disturbing the PA too much. Rgds Aidan